The use of masks is universal although there may be no word for mask in the culture using them. As transformative objects, they conceal the wearer’s identity but also reveal the meaning of the mask and what it represents. They are used for such diverse aims for it is mind-boggling: as a familiar historical or mythical person or gods or goddess taken from religions, plays, books, folk tales, dramas or mask dances; as priests, shamans, monks and local clerics performing religious or spiritual rituals; as one executing secret rituals known only to those who “get” the emblematic meaning known only to the group; or other “rites of passage” including initiations, creation myths, burials, agricultural events, feasts, dances and dramas where mythological beings, plants, animals, birds or other animate, inanimate or natural objects are in play. In some traditions as in Bali, masks of clowns, village idiots and even those with deformities provide slapstick humor and commentary to amuse the crowd, provide breaks in serious dramas and share public gossip about village denizens. Masks were used in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome for different purposes and throughout Europe for carnivals, magic practices, pagan celebrations, fertility rituals and other festivities.
Showing all 12 results
This antique Nuo Opera mask is Tudi Gong, benevolent Earth god with smiling animated face, long eyebrows, hemp beard and high decorative hat. With an honest gentle disposition, he symbolizing the power of good to defeat evil. Nuo popular in Ming/ Qing dynasties, there are few remaining troupes.
Chinese Noa opera mask is likely a female zhengshen – a benevolent gods with kind and honest nature and gentle disposition -symbolizing the power of good to defeat evil. Age and heavy use
Rare Timor ancestor mask for ritual offerings to honor the departed and provide space during village visits, repel evil spirits. Featured in 2002 Spiderman movie in collection of the Green Goblin.
This Dalem is a traditional folk-art and ethnic mask (topeng) from Bali made from pulai wood of a Hindu king (Dalem). He stares directly at the viewer while his high cheeks help express his poise and the ability to remain cool in a crisis. This is a fine example of a gifted carver able to…
Deeply carved rows of black hair atop the horse’s head form a carved pattern framed by the upward-pointed ears that emphasize the horse’s alertness. Wonderfully modeled with flowing forms, this carving demonstrates the gifts of Tibetan woodcarvers. One can only imagine how important horses are to Tibetans living on “the roof of the world.” Without…
Dayu mask of Balinese high-caste female Hindu Brahman, beautiful decorative piece on a museum quality metal stand.
Vintage animistic Dayak ancestor mask for agricultural festivals, separate wing-like decoratively painted ears, long nose, gnarled teeth, featured in Green Goblin’s collection in 2002 Spiderman movie.
The religion of the ethnic Dayak (Dyak) people of Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia is a mix of animism, shamanism and ancestor worship. Their word hudoq describes three different things: it describes the pests that can destroy the rice harvest on which their survival depends; the name of the huge yearly Dyak planting celebration and the name…
This ethnic and folk-art Bali legendary court minister (topeng patih) is performed in a special mask dance named Topeng Panjegan, as only one dancer interprets five different characters wearing full face masks preventing speech. Patih manis (Sweet Minister) is often the first solo dance after a gamelan orchestra introduction, and this patih keras (strong minister)…
Deeply set cut-out eyes and mouths are traditional for West Timor ancestor masks as are few, none or menacing teeth. They are rare and often have hair on animal hides on the upper lip, brows and head. Often looking threatening with stark features, their black color, teeth and often lack of balance scare off malevolent and evil spirits. Storing them in the rafters above the house hearth accounts for their smokey black color. Timor Ancestor masks have an earthy expressive presence and a raw spirit.
Timor’s religion has been described by Barbier as ritual exchanges between persons and social groups with their ancestors and fertility spirits. Timorese believe they can be upset by wicked forces, sickness, infertility and other forces, but particularly by the failure of the living to make suitable sacrifices to ancestral spirits. The departed protect and bring prosperity to the living as long as they are honored properly, so there is a close reciprocal link between the deceased and the secular world. Ancestors mediate between the living and the unseen world for living relatives. Their masks are used in animist veneration rituals, protective ceremonies and ritual dances or ceremonies tied to fertility, harvest, or funerary rites Besides masks, the living s are obliged to carve ancestor effigies to honor departed souls for them to occupy and rest in during their village visits. Many ceremonies usually occur in a house room known as “the womb” where a pillar supports beams rising up to the roof struts. This functions symbolically as an axis mundi (the center of the world or cosmic axis) that connects heaven and supports a simple altar above the floor to hold religious artifacts, protective fetishes and charms to ward off evil. So masks, effigies and fetish objects are protective and magic objects used throughout Indonesian islands in. Timor masks were rarely seen in the west until the mid-1970s.
Vintage mask of a king made by Balinese carver on island of Lombok blending Hinduism and animism. Mounted on museum quality stand.
Mask carving is among the oldest of Tibetan art and folk-art forms dating to 6th century Bonpo dances, the religion predating Buddhism, that embraces animism and shamanism dances. Totem animal masks were traditionally used in sacred ceremonial dances: shamanic rituals to thank the gods, expel bad spirits, and ask for blessings; operas in performances without…
End of content
End of content